Upcoming Show:

It will be performed in November ’07

"She Loves Me"

Book by Joe Masteroff
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Music by Jerry Bock

Based on Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo

It is the rare musical theatre aficionado who doesn’t have a soft spot in his heart for this intimate show, considered by many the most charming musical ever written.  Georg and Amalia are two feuding clerks in a European parfumerie during the 1930s who secretly find solace in their anonymous romantic pen pals, little knowing their respective correspondents are none other than each other. Funny, intelligent, honest and sentimental, “She Loves Me” is a warm romantic comedy with an endearing innocence and a touch of old world elegance and nostalgia, yet as universal and relevant as ever in this age of internet romances.

“She Loves Me” showcases a small but strong ensemble cast playing a range of vivid, memorable characters of all ages. Dance is mostly eschewed in favor of clever character-driven songs full of melody and personality. An ideal Christmas or Valentine’s Day show, this heart-warming work by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (the songwriting team of “Fiddler On The Roof”) and Joe Masteroff (the bookwriter of “Cabaret) is a pleasure whatever the occasion.

Opened 4/23/1963 Ran for 302 performances.

Original Broadway Production

So charming, so deft, so light and so right that it makes all the other music-shows in the big Broadway shops look like clodhoppers. This was an evening in which everything came together - click! Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick have written music and lyrics for the season's gayest, smartest score. The songs keep dancing and swirling out as if Harold Hasting's intimate, almost all-string orchestra were blowing shimmering soap bubbles up from the pit. The orchestrations are among the best ever written by Don Walker." - John Chapman, Daily News

"She Loves Me (aptly named) is that rare theatrical jewel, an intimate musical that affectionately enfolds an audience instead of shouting it down. It is dear, charming and wholeheartedly romantic. The music does not thrust itself forward. Instead, it gracefully embellishes the action, accents the speech, adds sparkle to the humor and transcends the power of words when the mood is romantic. It is, most of the way, an integral part of the play - which is a musical excellence in itself.... The expression "sings her heart out" certainly applies to Miss Cook, who has both the heart and voice to do it. Her clear soprano is not only one of the finest vocal instruments in the contemporary musical theatre, but it conveys all the vitality, brightness and strength of her feminine young personality, which is plenty. The company, owes a great deal to lyricist Sheldon Harnick. He has put their love affair into lyric words, just as Bock has put it into music. "Ice Cream," sung by Miss Cook, is the crowning glory of this music-lyric combination." - Norman Nadel, World-Telegram & Sun

"A bonbon of a musical has been put on display and it should delight who knows how many a sweet tooth. She Loves Me has been assembled by confectioners who know and respect their metier. They have found the right ingredients of sugar and raisins and nuts to add to their fluffy dough and have created a taste surprise, like an inspired dobos torta one would encounter in a romantic Budapest of long ago. The humors of She Loves Me are gentle rather than robust. The characters are the familiar figures of happily bittersweet fairy tales; yet they have individuality and charm. You keep thinking that you cannot digest an array of desserts, no matter how attractive and tasty they are, but you find yourself relishing nearly all of them. The secret is this: Everyone concerned with She Loves Me has played fair with the basic ingredients. The songs not only capture the gay, light spirit of the story but also add an extra dimension of magic to it. For this musical has not been put together with tape and glue and memories of bygone successes. The songs have not been added awkwardly to provide a star with a turn or the show with a production number." - Howard Taubman, Times

The 1993 Revival

"The first time I ever walked out of a Broadway show was to see She Loves Me a second time. It was Christmas week of 1963 and She Loves Me, a sensitive flower among hard edged comic blockbusters like A Funny Thing Happen on the Way to the Forum and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, was surely a goner with the New Year. It was now or never. I bolted out of the 2 o'clock matinee of another flop (remember Jennie, anyone?) to take one last look at She Loves Me at 3. Though I didn't know much about anything else in 1963, time has borne out my youthful infatuation with She Loves Me. The proof is at the Roundabout Theater Company, where this musical has finally received the exquisite revival of its fans' dreams and where surely new fans will soon be made by the legion. An intimate work with nothing on its sophisticated mind other than romance, She Loves Me is no less an anomaly on Broadway today than it was 30 years ago. Given how the world has aged since then, audiences may be hungrier than ever for this summons to a continuously melodic evening of sheer enchantment and complete escape." - Frank Rich, The New York Times

"Why has She Loves Me always occupied such a special place in the hearts of musical-comedy aficionados? Its original Broadway run wasn't very long. None of its songs became standards. And yet, within the last five years, I have seen four revivals, including the splendid one Scott Ellis has directed for the Roundabout. One reason for its popularity is that, unlike a lot of golden age musicals, She Loves Me is a kind of miniature, a Vermeer in a room full of Rembrandts. It commands respect and affection for the fineness of its every detail, for its serene glow rather than any customary Broadway boisterousness. " - Howard Kissel, Daily News

"The 1993/94 Broadway season is off and galloping, and, at least for starters, everything is coming up roses!  It opened last night with the Roundabout Theater's magical and faultless (faultlessly magical, magically faultless - Polonius himself would be at a loss for words if not enthusiasm) restoration of the Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick/Joe Masteroff 1963 musical She Loves Me. And I loved it." - Clive Barnes, New York Post